Li Ye led an army of 100,000 to Puyang. According to his order, a temporary pontoon bridge had been laid on the Yellow River in Puyang. Hundreds of small boats were lined up side by side, fastened with iron chains, and wide wooden boards were built on top.
The engineering soldiers on several large ships were still driving wooden piles in the river to fix the pontoon bridge.
It was getting late at this time, so Li Ye ordered the entire army to camp on the spot. The army set up a large tent and the soldiers fetched water for cooking. They did not need to find wood. They could boil water for cooking with the briquettes and marching stoves they carried with them.
Nowadays, military regulations are very strict. All soldiers are not allowed to drink raw water and must drink boiled water. The soldiers also comply with it. If there is boiled water to drink, who wants to drink raw water? If you contract the disease, you will lose your life.
At this time, several officials came from Puyang County, headed by Chang Gun, the left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. He followed Liu Yan to resettle the Goguryeo people. When he heard that the regent was coming to Puzhou from Beijing, Liu Yan couldn't leave, so he sent him to report.
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Chang Gun greeted Li Ye, and Li Ye smiled, asked him to sit down, and asked, "Is the resettlement going well?"
"In general, it went smoothly. The status of these Goguryeo people in Silla was very low. They were almost semi-slaves. At first, they all wanted to live together as clansmen. Liu Shangshu did not allow it. They had to be separated, and they had to be far apart. Liu Shangshu
I just said that if I didn’t want to stay in the Tang Dynasty, I could go back to Silla, but everyone accepted it honestly and didn’t dare to cause trouble.”
"Then what?"
"Then it's very interesting. When the allocation was made, many young couples were very happy and said that they actually didn't want to live with the clan at all."
"Why?" Li Ye was puzzled.
"Let's exploit the clan! Half of the harvested food must be given to the clan. It is said to be clan food to take care of the clan members in need, but in fact it has been embezzled by a few powerful clan elders."
"Is that true?" Li Ye asked with a smile.
Chang Gun bowed and said: "There are humble positions that take care of tribesmen in need, and there is also corruption. The key is that the tribe's food is too much. Half of the food grown so hard has to be handed over. No one can bear it. It stands to reason that we should take care of tribesmen in need."
In fact, it is not so much, most of them are still corrupted. Our Tang clan also has to pay food, but we only need to pay a little bit, how can we hand over half of it? I feel that the Goguryeo nation is very extreme, and it is easy to go to extremes in everything we do.
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"You're right. It's the same for both Goguryeo and Silla. That's why Fang Xuanling called them 'frontier barbarians and lowly people who don't deserve kindness and righteousness'. For more than a hundred years, they still never forget to restore the country. No matter how good they are to them, they
They will not be grateful. This is the last chance I give them. If they dare to cause trouble again, they will be executed."
At this time, Chang Gun said again: "Your Highness, Li Jing helped us do a lot of things this time and was of great help. Liu Yan appreciates him very much."
"Li Jing, Li Zhengji's son?"
"Exactly!"
Li Ye thought for a moment and said, "He came with you too?"
"He's right outside the tent!"
"Now that he's here, let him in!"
Not long after, Li Jing, who was fat, hurriedly walked in, knelt down and paid homage: "The sinner Li Jing, please pay homage to His Highness the Regent!"
Li Ye looked at him for a long time and said, "Who is your wife?"
"The guilty minister's wife is the daughter of the famous Feng family in Qingzhou."
"Did she give birth to your child?"
"She gave birth to a son and a daughter to the sinner."
"Do you have a concubine?"
"I have two concubines, both girls from good families."
"Besides the wife and concubines?"
Li Jing immediately understood what the regent meant. He was dissatisfied with his indulging in women. Li Jing quickly said: "Your Highness, except for one wife and two concubines, the guilty subjects will not have any other women. Those who used to be sent back were paid a heavy sum of money."
Go home."
Li Ye nodded, "Since Liu Shangshu appreciates you, you can follow him in the future! If you work hard for a few years and you have achieved results, the Political Affairs Hall will consider promoting you. I hope that one day, I will appoint you."
Li Jing knew that he had been pardoned. He was so excited that he choked up and said: "Thank you for Your Highness's generosity. I am so humble and humble. I am willing to die for Your Highness!"
"Don't be so exaggerated. Do what a minister should do. Live a more disciplined life. Take away those external things that belong to you. If they belong to the people of Ziqing, just keep them. Go ahead!"
"Wei Chen will keep this in mind!"
Li Jing kowtowed three times and slowly retreated.
Li Ye then said calmly to Chang Gun: "Don't think that I can forgive him just because he did something for you. I know his situation very well. He is just drunk and lustful, and has no other evil deeds. As long as he is like Li Ye."
If he kills innocent people like that, he will never end well."
"Wei Chen understands, and Liu Shangshu also said that he is a relatively generous man and has never done anything that would make people and gods angry, so he is given the opportunity to serve, otherwise he will be directly taken to Chang'an."
"That's it! If you have any difficulties, you can cross the Yellow River and come to me."
"Wei Chen obeys the order!"
Chang Gun bowed and retreated. Li Ye walked to the sand table with his hands behind his back. He was now more concerned about the war situation in Hebei.
Just after Tian Chengsi's army captured Xindu City, Guo Ziyi made a jaw-dropping move. He abandoned Beizhou and led his army to retreat to Weizhou.
In the dark of night, 50,000 troops left Qinghe County and retreated southward in a mighty manner.
Cui Ze, the head of the Cui family in Qinghe, was shocked and came to see Guo Ziyi personally.
Guo Ziyi reined in the horse and ordered Cui Ze to come up. He also turned over and dismounted. After a while, Cui Ze hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "Why does General Guo want to withdraw his troops?"
Guo Ziyi smiled slightly and said: "The tiger retreats in order to better jump up and hunt, and I do the same."
Cui Ze was stunned for a moment and then asked: "Is the old general just retreating strategically?"
"of course!"
Guo Ziyi's statement made Cui Ze feel a little relieved, but he was still worried: "We won't let Beizhou become the main battlefield!"
Guo Ziyi shook his head, "Master, don't worry, Beizhou is not a strategic place. The main battlefield is either Weizhou or Cangzhou, and it will definitely not be Beizhou!"
Cui Ze breathed a sigh of relief, clasped his fists and said, "Then I wish the old general a great victory and the early unification of Hebei."
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Guo Ziyi pondered for a moment, then smiled and said: "I have to reveal something to the old general. His Royal Highness the Regent has arrived in Hebei!"
Cui Ze was shocked and asked urgently: "Where is His Royal Highness the Regent?"
"I don't know the details, but I know that he crossed the Yellow River from Puyang, which should be in Weizhou."
"Thanks for the news, old general!"
Cui Ze was really grateful. It was related to the future and destiny of the Cui family in Qinghe, and he had to meet the regent as soon as possible.
Tian Chengsi also set up numerous scout posts in Beizhou. On the night after the Tang army retreated, Tian Chengsi got the exact news.
Tian Chengsi has also been anxious these days. His eldest son Tian Wei abandoned Weizhou and led an army of 10,000 to withdraw westward from Mingzhou, but there is no news at all.
There was no news from Li Baochen. The eldest son and his ten thousand troops seemed to be missing, which really made Tian Chengsi restless.
Tian Chengsi was especially afraid of hearing the news that his eldest son's entire army had been destroyed, so he sent more than a dozen detective sentries to the Mingzhou area to find out the news.
But now the news he received was that Guo Ziyi abandoned Beizhou and led his army to retreat south, which Tian Chengsi couldn't understand at all.